“Ransomware Doesn’t Scare Me; Listeria Does”
During math class, I always hear the rhythmic sound of the Apple Pencil gliding along everyone’s iPads as the lecturer is teaching at a million miles a minute. When I order food from The Axe and Palm (TAP, for short), I complete the entire order and payment process directly from an iPad screen. We’ve transitioned to a tech-centric world in which nearly everything is digitized.
When considering other aspects of our lives that have become digitized, I thought a lot about how some of the most sensitive information in our lives is stored electronically. Medical records at hospitals primarily exist on computers or tablets, credit card information and login passwords can be saved in a password manager app, and confidential work emails are all located on one’s computer and phone. An article from Norton claims that “considering there are around 2,200 cyberattacks per day, that could equate to more than 800,000 people being hacked per year” (Norton). This goes to show that over-networked systems come at the cost of compromising sensitive information and exposing vulnerabilities.
Expanding more on the topic of medical records at hospitals, I would argue that hospitals are one of the top targets for malicious attackers. Hospitals contain patient records, and these records include some of the most sensitive information like their date of birth, home address, and prescription/medication information. Beyond that, I think that a lot of the devices at hospitals require an internet connection, such as the heart rate monitors or dialysis machines (at least this is how it was portrayed in Grey’s Anatomy when the hospital was hacked).
Another example surrounding the compromising of sensitive information is when Uber was just recently hacked. Uber was hacked by an 18-year-old, yet Uber hires some of the best software engineers and technologists around the world. After they were hacked, Uber immediately posted several job postings for cybersecurity engineers. Uber also has sensitive information such as a rider’s ride history, payment information, and home address.
Regarding this first case study, I can see this connecting to my team project because we’ll need to be cognizant of how we’re safeguarding our users’ payment information, address, date of birth, and password.
“Who Invited Her?”
In this other case study called “Who Invited Her?,” Sara Wilund speaks up during a meeting in which she suggests prioritizing digital security at the organization, Newhouse Cheese Company. During this meeting, Sara was in the same room as several of her male coworkers such as the COO and CEO. While the head of engineering was extremely condescending, the CEO was very supportive and asked her to continue sharing her idea. In this moment, Sara was challenging the status quo and put her company at the forefront of the conversation, rather than sticking with the majority of the people in the room.
Connecting this to my personal experience as a fellow woman in technology, I’ve been in meetings where people only make eye contact with those who are of a higher status (for example, the CEO of a company or other C-suite executives). It was because of Sara’s commentary that the company was able to prioritize protecting their pasteurization and recipe information. Not doing so would have not only led to the family recipe being leaked, but also a possible health issue.
